Creditors seeking Chapter 7 for Eagle

Heath E. Combs, Retail Editor 2 -- Furniture Today, June 28, 2013

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. - A group of creditors has filed a petition against entertainment, office and bedroom manufacturer Eagle Inds. seeking to force the manufacturer into Chapter 7 bankruptcy. In April, Furniture/Today reported that the company was in receivership after it was sued by Citizens First Bank to secure Eagle's accounts receivable for use as collateral to secure $3 million in loans that were due on Feb. 28. Another bank had a mortgage on its assets and property. In the recent filing in U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Western District of Kentucky, petitioning creditors included Pan Ocean Imports, Bommer Inds., Clearwater Wood Group, Consolidated Paper Group and Waljon Inds., who say they are owed a total of $222,870. It was unclear if the signee on court documents for Clearwater, Girard Besanceney, is the same Jerry Besanceney who was a former owner of Eagle Inds. A spokesperson for Besanceney at Clearwater said she was "not interested" in taking a phone call from Furniture/Today. Former company officials for Eagle were unavailable at press time. Involuntary Chapter 7 filings can result in settlements between petitioning creditors and debtors. They also can result in a court-appointed trustee or custodian responsible for liquidating claims against a company. Investors had been sought for the company after Eagle received advance notice that Citizens planned to call its loans. The company shut down indefinitely this spring after a sale fell through.